Pedal depressor



Jan. 25, 1927. x 1,615,798

Cf.. F. COWDREY PEDAL VDEPRESSOR Filed Feb. 2, 1925 v#LLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII \\Smnmmumk \m Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

PATENT oFF1cE.-

.cia-.Annes-i1- cownnEY, 'or .rrr'cnnnn MASSACHUSETTS, Assrenon 'ro MUTHER MANUFAQTUBING coMrAmg, or BOSTON,

MAssAcnUsnTrs.

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION orA 'PEDAL nnransson.

Animation and February' a, 1925. serial No. 6,283.

This invention relates to a pedal' depressor 1 for holdingthe brake pedal of an automobile depressed whilethebrakes are being tested.

j he condition of thebrakes of an auto- 6` mobile are commonly 'tested by jacking up the rear wheels of an automobile and then )one person` holds the-'brake pedal depressed while a second person turns'ii'rst one wheel v`and then the other underbrake resistance to .lo determine whether the brake action on the `opposite .wheels is approximately the same. Thls practice 'not only requires the service of two er'sons, but is inaccurate, because the person olding 'theped'a'l' depressed uncon- 15,` s'ciously vvaries the pressure uponi the-pedal l ,during the testing of the opposite wheels. To overcome this diiiiculty, oneform of means for holding the pedal depressed while the brakes of an automobile are being tested is shown, described and claimed in the Charles-F. Cowdrey United States Patent No. 1,448,912,granted March 20, 1923. The pedal depressor of this patent, while a good construction, is open to the objection that it can not be readily used upon all types .of automobiles'.

The present invention is therefore directed toan improved type of pedal depressor which may -be u sed'in all makes of automobile to hold the foot pedal depressed, and which is constructed to extend from the floor of the automobilev atthe base of the driversy 1 seat to the pedal, andpmay be adjusted to depress the pedal any desired amount.

Important features of the pedal depressor ,of the present invention reside in a hollow column in which a-bar is slidably mounted ortelescopic adjustment; a rack and gear for adjustingthe bar lengthwise of the hollow column, and a pair of dogs that coopcrate with the rack to hold the bar in its different positions of adjustment; a cup-shaped socket 'fitted over the lowerend of the c'olumn to provide a pad at this end; and gradi nations for indicating the adjustment of the rod lengthwise of the column and the amount.

of movement imparted to a pedal in depressinjthe same.l therA features of the invention and novel combination of parts in addition to the above will be hereinafter described lin connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a goody practical form of the invention.

In the drawings o Fig. 1 is a side elevationl of the pedal depressor of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pedal' depressor, with part of the gear casing removed. c Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and j Fig. 4 is a perspective view. of :a ortion of an automobile showing the' p e al de- -pressor in use. 65

In the embodiment of the invention shown,

`the pedal depressor is .provided with a hollow .column 10 in which is slidably mounted "the bar 11, and both the column and bar are preferably approximately square in crosssection, to prevent the bar from rotating in the column. A r.

. Means is provided for adjusting. the bar 11 telescopically within the column 10and to this endthe upper end ofthe column is provided with a casing 12 which may be soldered, braised or otherwis'erigidly secured to the column 10; the casin is provided with an enlarged portion in w ich is formed a. gear receiving opening 13 in which the ear 80 14 rotates. This gear is rigidly secure to the. shaft 15 by a pin 16 which may extend thru a shoulder upon the gear and thru the shaft. One end of the shaft15 is journaled in an opening 17 formed in the casing 12,. 85

and the other end of the shaft is journaled inan opening `formed in the cover plate 18, which plate is secured to the casing by screws 19. The shaft 15 and gear secured theretov are rotated bythe crank handle 20. ,90 The teeth of the gear 14engage the teeth of the rack 21 formed in one `face of the barv 11, and the arrangement is*- such that as the crank handle 2O is rotated-the bar 11 will be V adjusted -lengthwise of' its ksupport-ing col- 95 umn 10. Means is desired for securing the shaft 11 in its different positions of adjustment, and to this end the casing 12 1s prodogs, one of which is spaced slightly in front f of the other, is to cause one dog to enter the space between two teeth of the rack, while the other' dog is sliding over a, tooth, whereby one of the dogs is always in position to enga e the rack and hold it in any position of a ustment. The use of two dogs positione as described has the further adva-n; tage that the rack may be secured in Vany position of adjustment equal to half the s ace between adjacent teeth of the rack.

e dogs 22 are urged towards the rackengaging position by the springs 24 and they may be rocked out of engagement with the rack by exerting a pressure upon the fouten ends of the dogs.

When the pedal depressor is emplo ed to hold the brake pedal of an'automo ile depressed, the outer end of the hollow column 10 is placed so that it will rest against the front portion 25 of the drivers seat 26, where this front portion meets the floor 27 of the automobile, as will be apparent from Fig. 4. The outer end of the bar 11 is provided with a xed head 28 havino' a notch which is adapted to engage an edge of the foot-enga ing portion of the brake pedal 29 so that t e pedal depressor extends 1n an inclined direction from the base of the front portion ofl the drivers seat. to the pedal 29, as shown. The pedal 29 may be l depressed any desired amount by rotating the crank handle 2Q to adjust the bar 11 sired position of adjustment. 'It is desirable v to prevent the end of the columnlO from injuring the portion of the automobile which it engages, and this is readily accomplished by providing the lower end of the column 10 with a cup-shaped pad 30 which may be formed of rubber or other resilient material, and may be easily inserted over the lower end of thecolumn 10.

In testing the brakes of an automobile, it is often desirable to determine the force required to turn a wheel under brake resistance when the foot pedal has been depressed a predetermined amount, say, for example, three inches from its normal elevated position. It is therefore desirable to provide means for showing the amount of movement which has been imparted to the bar 11 in depressing the pedal 29. To this end a graduated scale is'provided along one face of the bar 11` as clearly shown in Eig. 2, and the outer face of the cover plate 18 may be notched as at 31 to enable the graduation of 'hold the latter depress justable bar 4is mounted telesco ically within the scale adjacent :the upper end of the column 10 to be readily noted. Thru the provision of th graduatlons the adjustment of the bar 11 4can be at `all times accurately determined, and as a result the amount a.

pedal is de resfscd during a particulartest may be rea ly noted, as may also the eiect upon the brakes produced fbydepressing the pedal different amounts.`

Thepresent device, while inexpensive to manufacture, is strong and, durable, and may be readily placed in any type ofautomobile with'one end engaging .the front portion o the drivers seatwhere it meets the Hoor, a-nd the other end engagin the foot pedal to the other "and the head 28 at t e end ofthe Vbar 11 lies in axial alignment with the bars, the pedal de ressing force is exerted axially' ;'an'd since one adof the pe al depressor throu hout Aits length, thus relieving the parts o thejs'arne` i,

. from lateral strains.

What is claimed is c 11.- A device for holding the foot pedal of zin-automobile depressed, comprisingin com-- 4no i bination, a hollow columnliaving a gear ca'sing at one end and a cupshaped flexiblejad l a ly fitted over its `opposite end', aA bar slid mounted in the hollow column for telescopic adjustment and provided with rack teeth, a j i head atthe outer end of4 said bar and pro,-v

vided with a transversely extendin notch adapted to receive an edge of the pe al to be depressed, a gear rotatabl n mounted in said Ycasing in engagement wit the teeth of said rack to move the bar lengthwise of said i column, means for rotating said gear, a pair of dogs positioned one 1n advance offthe other to engage the teeth of the rack and hold the b ar in different positions of v.adjust-f" ment within the column, and graduations along said bar for indicatingits 'adjustment' withingthe column. Y

2. A device forholding the footpedal of an automobile depressed, comprisin in combination, a v hollow column'formel' of tubular metal that is square in cross section,"

one face of said bar, means engageable withv the teeth to move the bar telescopically within said column, .and means for holding the bar in its dierent positions of adjustment longitudinally o the column.

2'.` A device for holding the foot pedal of an automobile depressed, comprising in.

combination, a hollow, column having a gear casing at one end and a soft pad at its opposite end, a bar slidably mounted inthe hollow column for telescopic adjustment therein and provided with rack teeth, ahead at the outer end of said bar provided with a notch adapted to receive an edge of the pedal to be depressed, a gear rotatably mounted in said caslng in engagement with the teeth of said rack to move thefbar lengthwise of said column, a handle for rotating said gearLand a dog enga eable with said teeth to hold the` l0 bar .in di erent positions of adjustment within the column.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

QHARLES F. COWDREY. 

